Bruce Springsteen

And the great album-versaries keep coming! Bruce Springsteen released The River on this day in 1980.

By request! Springsteen played this song for the first time on May 9, 1974 when he opened for Bonnie Raitt at Harvard Square. Rock critic Jon Landau was at the show and wrote in Boston's Real Paper: "I saw rock and roll's future - and its name is Bruce Springsteen." Landau later became The Boss's manager. -- Watch The Boss performing "Born to Run" live in 2009: www.youtube.com

On this date in 1982, Bruce Springsteen released "Nebraska." Here's a live performance of "Mansion on the Hill" from 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. www.youtube.com

#29 - Best Opening Songs "Thunder Road" was written by Springsteen while at his living room piano in Long Branch, New Jersey. In October 1974, it existed as a solo recording, "Chrissie's Song", that included the line, "leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold, Thunder Road." By early 1975, Springsteen had combined lyrics from another composition, "Walking in the Street," forming a new song, "Wings for Wheels," which he debuted on February 5, 1975, at a benefit for a local club, The Main Point, radio broadcast in the Philadelphia area, and featuring four yet-to-be-released Born to Run songs. Still unsatisfied, he finished dismantling "Walking in the Street," by importing its main coda into "Wings for Wheels" as the instrumental ending, now calling it "Thunder Road." Springsteen stated at a 1978 concert that the name of his song had been inspired by seeing a poster of the 1958 Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road, though he did not see it. tinyurl.com

#343 on the countdown of greatest album opening tracks as voted on by you. === Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" kicks off the album with a thunderous blast of energy that captures shame on how America treated its Vietnam veterans. The driving beat and anthemic chorus might sound like a celebration at first, but beneath the surface, the lyrics tell a story of disillusionment and struggle. It's a stark reminder of the complexities of patriotism, wrapped in catchy hooks that invite you to sing along even as they provoke deeper reflection. This track sets the stage perfectly, blending rock and heart with an unmistakable vibe that resonates with listeners, making it an undeniable classic in the KEXP countdown. --- bit.ly brucespringsteen.net

#414 --- "One ought to be wary of making such claims, but in this case, they’re justified at every level. In the area of production, Darkness on the Edge of Town is nothing less than a breakthrough." Read the Rolling Stone Album review here: www.rollingstone.com --- Sing-Along using the Official Lyric Video for "Bandlands" here: www.youtube.com

#617 Recorded on four-track cassette in his New Jersey bedroom, Nebraska has proved one of Springsteen’s most enduring works, a raw, haunted acoustic record populated by lost souls searching not for salvation through music but simply a reason to believe. brucespringsteen.net

Released on this day in 1975!

We got some serious Bruce vibes from The Dead Tongues. == Springsteen came up with this song in the studio during recording sessions in early 1982. He was playing around with a slow Johnny Cash rhythm which he put to some lyrics he had already written. In 2000, Johnny Cash covered it on Badlands: A tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska.